Seven billion euros were injected into two of Ireland's major banks yesterday as part of a desperate plan not only to rescue the country's financial institutions but also to save the republic's entire economy.

Despite the Irish cabinet approving the aid plan for Allied Irish and the Bank of Ireland, shares in the two lending institutions fell yesterday, again demonstrating a profound lack of economic confidence throughout the state.

On the same day, around 1,200 workers were in danger of losing their jobs at an aircraft maintenance firm next to Dublin airport, while the low-cost airline Ryanair confirmed cuts in both posts and flight destinations from Ireland to other parts of Europe.

Of all the countries within the eurozone, Ireland is perhaps the most vulnerable to the continuing global economic tremors.

The republic's economy, even in the good times, has been based on a faultline: reliance on international investment.

In the recent past, Ireland drew tremendous energy from beneath the fissure. Now it sits directly above an earthquake zone.

The story of Ireland over the last decade and a half has been a journey from a nation whose narrative was dominated by the bomb to one dominated by the boom of the Celtic tiger. As the ground starts to shake beneath that nation's feet, that story has moved once more, this time from boom to bust.

The sense of crisis in Ireland is so intense that some voices in the Dublin media, and now in the Irish parliament, are calling for a dramatic move to help stabilise the country.

There are calls, albeit from a fringe minority (so far), for Brian Cowen to invite the main opposition parties to join him in a national emergency government.

This would entail bringing Fianna Fáil's historic adversaries in Fine Gael into a unity government – something the rank and file of both parties would undoubtedly find unpalatable.

One of those calling for such a government is a member of Ireland's second chamber, the Seanad, who has himself crisscrossed the old traditional divides of left/right republican/nationalist over the last four decades.

Eoghan Harris, an independent senator, has been a spin doctor and political adviser to an eclectic band of parties ranging from the hard-left Workers party all the way across to Fianna Fáil under Bertie Ahern.

In between, his media strategy helped elect Mary Robinson, the first female and liberal president of Ireland, back in 1991.

He even crossed the border to come to David Trimble's aid when the then Ulster Unionist leader tried to sell the Good Friday agreement to a sceptical unionist electorate.

Harris argues that the republic's present plight is akin to a nation at war and that, in wars, parties unite to form national coalitions.

At first glance, the concept looks fanciful. The main opposition bloc – Fine Gael and Labour – may be tempted to allow Cowen and his government to twist in the wind rather than rushing to help them. Labour in particular has been keen to point out that, since Fianna Fáil have led three successive governments since June 1997, they are in large part responsible for the culture of lax credit and greedy speculation that lies at the heart of the Irish economic malaise.

The key question, however, is will the Irish electorate necessarily reward the opposition for sniping from the sidelines while Cowen and his coalition with the Greens are trying to save the economy, or would it require something more in the "national interest"?

There is certainly no dearth of talent within the frontbenches of the two opposition parties.

Labour's Eamon Gilmore is one of the greatest political orators of his generation and has the ability to zero in on the most neuralgic issues affecting ordinary people.

Meanwhile, in Richard Bruton, the economics spokesman, Fine Gael has one of the most talented and able politicians in the Dail at present.

Would, for instance, Fine Gael gain more kudos as a natural party of government with Bruton helping to shape the economic rescue compared to being outside the decision-making process?

Conversely, would Cowen be perceived as a statesman putting country before party if he invited the two main forces on the other side of the Dail chamber to join him in an emergency government for a limited timeframe?

Cynics, and in Dublin's media class they are legion, will scoff at the notion of national government. But as Harris has pointed out these are exceptional times. And in such times exceptional measures may be needed to salvage the republic from complete economic meltdown.